Theresa May Fights For Time Amid Cabinet Revolt Over Brexit

PM agrees to meet ministers in desperate last-ditch bid to salvage Withdrawal Agreement Bill.
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Theresa May is fighting for time to salvage her Brexit plans as a Cabinet revolt threatens to topple her premiership within days.

The prime minister has been forced to pull a vote on her key Brexit legislation and has agreed to meet ministers who fear it could pave the way to a second referendum.

Fresh calls were made for her to stand down on Wednesday after she said MPs could vote on her Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) on the week of June 3.

Reports have emerged she could resign as early as Friday, when she is due to meet Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the powerful 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs.

May was dealt a serious blow when Brexiteer Andrea Leadsom quit as leader of the House of Commons, saying she could not support the new Bill.

But Number 10 appeared defiant on Thursday, announcing Leadsom would be replaced with Treasury minister and May ally Mel Stride, and insisting the PM would still be in post for US President Donald Trump’s visit on June 3.

“She is looking forward to welcoming the president,” Number 10′s official spokesman said. “It is a very special relationship which exists between the United Kingdom and the United States and the PM looks forward to using this as an opportunity to deepen that relationship further.”

It is not clear, however, exactly when the WAB will be put to a vote of MPs with last-minute changes now likely.

May had previously promised the Commons there would be a vote the week of June 3, but government whip Mark Spencer confirmed that was no longer guaranteed.

“We had hoped to hold second reading on Friday 7 June, at the moment we have not secured agreement to this in the usual channels,” he told the Commons on Friday.

The contents of the WAB will still be published that week, he said, adding: “We will update the House on the publication and introduction of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill on our return from the Whitsun recess.”

It comes as May was due to hold meetings with ministers in a last-ditch attempt to secure her legacy of being the PM that delivered Brexit.

“The PM is listening to her colleagues about the Bill and will be having further discussions,” her official spokesman said.

Asked if the prime minister still had the support of the Cabinet, he added: “The PM and the Cabinet are focused on delivering Brexit.”

May appeared to have retained the support of Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who told reporters the PM would be in post for Trump’s visit.

“Theresa May will be prime minister to welcome him and rightly so,” the likely leadership contender said.

On Wednesday, the 1922 committee held a vote on whether to change the rules so that May could face a fresh confidence vote before December.

It is thought the result of the secret ballot is contained in a sealed envelope, which Brady will reveal should May refuse to resign after their meeting on Friday.

May’s spokesman added: “This [Brexit] is a subject which throughout has provoked strong emotions in the House of Commons.

“What the PM has been trying to do throughout is to find a withdrawal agreement which can carry the support of a majority of MPs, which she is determined that the UK should leave the EU.

“That’s what she has been working for for the past three years and that is what she has been trying to achieve this week.”

Referring to the bid to topple May, interim chief executive of the pro-second referendum group Best for Britain, Naomi Smith, said the direction of Brexit was being decided by “a small group of men in double breasted blazers”.

She said: “The future of this country is being decided by a small group of extreme Brexiters hell-bent on making their ideological fantasies come true. Theresa May has bowed to them every step of the way, but it’s still not been enough to stop her political demise.”

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